Wobble plate anchor control mechanism



Aug. 3, 1965 B. A. DE WAERN WOBBLE PLATE ANCHOR CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 18, 1962 Aug. 3, 1965 B. A DE WAERN WOBBLE PLATE ANCHOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed June 18, 1962 Fig. 8 126 122 l L i .14

1.0 a I h l l I I I i J 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1965 B. A. DE WAERN 3,198,022

WOBBLE PLATE ANCHOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed June 18, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,198,022 Patented Aug. 3, 1965 nice 3,118,022 WOBBLE PLATE ANCHGR CONTRQL MECHANHSM Bror Algor de Wacrn, Spannvagen 8, Brornnra, Sweden Filed June 18, 1962, Ser. No. 203,220 Claims priority, application Sweden, Jan. 23, 1962, 7 47/ 62 8 Claims. (Cl. 74-60) The present invention relates to barrel machines of the type in which a number of cylinders having reciprocable pistons therein are provided in a circular arrangement with parallel cylinder axes.

The present invention relates more particularly to a wobble body mechanism in such machines for converting reciprocal piston movement to a rotary movement or vice versa. Connecting rods are jointedly connected by their inner ends to the corresponding pistons and by their outer ends to corresponding points arranged peripherally on the wobble body being itself substantially restrained from rotation and supported via a bearing on an inclined crank pin of the main shaft of the engine, said pin being rotatable in the wobble body. The axis of rotation of the main shaft is parallel with the cylinder axes. The mechanism is such that, for instance, in an internal combustion engine, reciprocatory movement of the pistons will cause the wobble body to perform a wobbling movement without rotation and the crank pin and main shaft to rotate. Inversely, for instance in a pumping machinery, any rotation forced upon the main shaft will induce the wobble body to perform a wobbling movement and the pistons to reciprocate in their cylinders. In both instances it is presupposed that the angle of inclination of the crank pin is so selected that the mechanism is not self locking. For that reason it is preferable to make at least the principal bearings of antifriction type, such as ball hearings or roller bearings.

A problem has been the control of the movements of the Wobble body, particularly when the power to be transmitted from the cylinders to the shaft or vice versa is of any substantial order, such as 100.0r 1000 horsepowers or more.

Certain solutions have been proposed by Sparrnann in his United States Patents Nos. 2,463,818, 2,523,599, 2,550,612, 2,550,613 and 2,636,392. Although these mechanisms are theoretically correct in respect of the control of the wobble body, it has been proved in practice that they are complicated in respect of their structure and thus expensive to build and that the frictional losses are considerable. Further, the moving parts were not dynamically outbalanced, which causes severe vibrations. This relates also to the control having a speed of rotation being twice that of the main shaft.

The present invention has for its object to simplify the design of such mechanisms and to render them more compact and less expensive and further to reduce the frictional losses while still maintaining a correct function of the control of the wobble body.

A further object is to render the operation more reliable and easily controllable as to its pattern.

I For these and other objects in view I provide my engine with one or more of the following structural features:

The wobble body is slidably anchored at a guide pin or auxiliary crank pin being formed on, and inclined in relation to, a rotary auxiliary shaft which is, in turn, parallel with the main shaft and adapted to rotate at a rate being substantially the same as that of the main shaft. Its direction of rotation is the same as that of the main shaft. The angle of inclination of the auxiliary crank pin to the auxiliary shaft is substantially less than that of the main crank pin and in a preferred embodiment about one half of that of the crank pin. To provide a satisfactory connection between the wobble body and the guide pin the former is provided with a ball joint slidable along the guide pin.

The invention will now be more closely described with reference to the accompanying drawings, on which FIG. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a four-stroke internal combustion engine of barrel type with twelve cylinders in a twin arrangement,

FIG. 2 is a view, partially in section, on line 22 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view on line 3-3 in FIGS. 1 and 2, portions of the engine cover being broken away and the movable parts being shown in positions difiering from those of FIGS. 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 is a section an line 4-4 in FIGS. 3 and 5,

FIG. 5 is a section on line 55 in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a section on line 6-6 in FIG. 7 of an embodiment modified relatively to that shown in the section of FIGS. 4 and 5,

FIG. 7 is a section on line 7--7 in FIG. 6,

FIG. Sis a partial section, similar to that of FIG. 1, but relating to a two-stroke diesel engine,

FIG. 9 is a similar partial section of the machinery in the embodiment of a compressor or pump, and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of certain geometrical features.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 the engine frame 1 is shaped as a horizontal cylindrical cover having a rectangular window 2 and internal flanges 3, 4, 5 and 6. Each of these have six round openings, of which those of flange 3 are shown in FIG. 2 under Nos. 7 to 12. In FIG. 1 there are shown openings 9 and 12 and also openings 13 and 14 in flange 4 are visible. The openings 7 to 12 are provided with air tight sealings as indicated at 15. The edges of openings 13 and 14 are stepped. Of the twelve cylinders, six Nos. 16 to 21 are fitted in the openings 7 to 12 and in the openings 13, 14 and other corresponding openings not shown. In the flanges 5 and 6 six cylinders are mounted in an inverse manner as indicated by the three cylinders 22, 23 and 24. A central circular through-going opening is constituted by the internal edges 25, 26 of flanges 4 and 6 and cylindrical extensions 27, 28 of flanges 3 and 5, respectively. On the stepped edges 25 and 26 there are mounted flanges 29 and 30 of cylindrical supports 31 and 32.

The main shaft is made of integral parts, i.e.

(1) A first shaft portion 33 extending in the axis of rotation of the engine and having a flange 34 serving as a thrust bearing between bearing surfaces 35, 36, formed on cylindrical parts 37 and 27, respectively, and being supported in radial direction by bearing surfaces 38 and 39,

(2) crank portions 40 and 41,

(3) an inclined crank pin 42 between said crank portions,

(4) and a second shaft portion 43 journalled in parts 28 and 32 and extending to a driving clutch 44.

The wobble body 45, sometimes called wobble plate, is constituted by a hub portion 46, a spider portion 47, and a peripheral portion 48. The hub portion is provided with bearings, indicated at 49 and 50. It is also provided with a thrust bearing constituted by two flanges 51 and 52 enclosing a flange 53 on the crank pin 42.

The peripheral portion 43 carries six ball joints 54 to 59 adapted to accommodate the ball-shaped ends of piston rods 6% to 65. The opposite ends of the pistons are connected to pistons, not shown, in the six cylinders of which Nos. 22, 23 and 24 are shown in FIG. 1. The connections are made via universal joints, such as ball joints, in the g sasaesa same way as will be described now with reference to the six remaining piston rods ofwhich Nos. 66, 67-and 68.

are shown in FIG. 1. The rod 66 has both ends 69 and 70 ball shaped and of these the end 70 is received in a ball joint 72 in a piston 73 in the cylinder 21. 'The opposite rod end 69 is received in a ball joint '73, provided in the peripheral portion 43. Similar ball joints 74 to 78 are indicated in FIG. 2.

'All the twelve cylinders 16 to 21'and 22 to 24, et :cetera, are of similar arrangement and will be described with reference to cylinder 21. a The piston'73 has a'recess 79' at its inner end and the cylinder top 86 is provided with an injection nozzle 81 and an air inlet valve 82 supplied from air inlet conduit. The outlet 'valve is of conventional design but not shown in this section, compare reference 84, and discharges into the outlet manifold 35. The shaft 33'is provided with a toothed rim 86' meshing with is of the two stroke type and has an air inlet 122 supplying a toothed wheel 87 mounted on a rotatable pin '88 hava ing another toothed wheel 89 meshing with a toothed rim 9%) being rotatable on the shaft 33. The numbers of teeth are so selected thatthe rim 90 rotates at half the speed of the shaft 33-; The rim 9% has an extension 91 having camsurfaces for operating the valve rods 92 and 93 et cetera. These are connected; to pivoted levers,- such as 94 and 95, in turn operating the spring loaded valves, such as'82 and 84.; 7 g 1 a The oil basin .96 is provided with ventilating ducts 97,

98. The main shaft parts 33, 40, 41, 42,43 are provided j bolts 120 to the wobble body 121.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 the diesel engine trols the communication between the top of the combustion chamber andthe outlet manifold 126. The lever 127 controlling the position of the outlet valve 125, is

actuated by'the rod 128 and the piece 129 slidable in guides 130 and bearingonthe surface of a cam ring 131 with a throughgoing bore 99 adapted to receive andtransp'ortlubricating oilunder pressure in conventional manner.-

, The means for anchoring the wobble body 45 .to sub- 7 stantially prevent this from rotating will now be described.

An inclined auxiliary, cran-k pin 100 has two shaft pins 101, 102 mounted in bearings 103,104 so that the axis of rotation of the device will be parallel to that of the main shaft 33. The angle ofinclination of the'crank pin to this axis is less-than the corresponding angle of inclination of the crankpin 42 of the main shaft and, in this instance, the angle ofthe auxiliary crank pin ltitl is only one half of that .of'the main crank pin 42. A toothed gear having the .intermeshing" toothed wheels 105 to 169' transmits in conventional manner rotary movementfromthe main shaft 43 to the auxiliary shaft pin 102 so'that this will rotate in the same direction asthe main shaft. In the illustrated embodimentthe gear'ratio isltol.

The :wobble' body 45- is provided with, and; integral with, twoprojections 110 and 111 enclosing the auxiliary crank pin 100. The surfaces of the projections facing the pin100 arecylindrically' concave as'shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and a ball 112 is fitted in sliding contact with said surfaces. This ballis traversed bya bore receiving the auxiliary crank pin 100 which latter is thus slidable in said ball.

When the reciprocatory movements of the twelve pistons actuate the wobble body 45 this will start, to

wobble, while it is substantially prevented from rotation by the engagement of the ball 112 with the projections.

secured to the main shaft. portion 132. V

7 By this arrangement this two stroke engine will operate with so called uniflowscavenging from the ports 124 towards the outlet valve 125 when the piston 73 has reached its outermost positionf This gives the highest possible average pressure in the cylinder. If this is not required there isno objection againstdesigning the twostroke engine according to the well known principle of transversal scavenging, H I

nine. 9' the machinery comprises a compressor. For this purpose the piston 133 has a flat top 134. The intake 135 is controlled. by an inlet valve comprising a perforated intake disk 136 secured to the walls ofthe intake and a thin flap 137 swingably mounted on the inside ofthe disk 136. The outlet manifold 138 communicates with an outlet conduit 139 individual to each cylinder and havingan outlet valve consisting of ya perforated disk 1 141 securedto the walls of the conduit 139 and having a flap141 on its outside. 1 U I Whent-heinain shaft 142 is forced torotate the wobble body 45 starts to wobble and all the compressor Ipistons 133 will=start tol'reciprocate and draw fluid from the intake 135 and discharge it through the. outlet conduit 139 and manifold 138.; 7

' In FIG. 10 the axis of rotation 143 of the main shaft, the centre lines 144 and 1450f the crankportions and the axis 146 ofthe main crank .pin are indicated. The angle a islformed between ,axes.143 and 146. The axis of rotation 147 of the. auxiliary shaft,' the centre lines 1148 and 149 of the corresponding crank portions and the axis 150 of theauxiliary crank pin are indicated. The

angle [3 is 'formed between axes 147 and 150.

The equation 2,8:01 should be substantially valid.

i the axis143 and containing. the centre 151 of oscillation of thewobble body 152and the point153 of intersection 110, 111, onthe one hand, and the auxiliary crank pin 100 on the other hand. As the operation proceeds the while this rotates in the same direction and with the same speed as the main shaft 43. If the angle p of inclination of the pin 100 is one half of the angle a of inclination of the maincrank pin 42, all the connecting rods 60 to and 66 to 68, et cetera, will operate as if they had an infinite length and the Waytraversed in the reciprocal movement of the pistons'will be practically a purely sinusoidalfunction of time. i v I In order to outbalance the wobble platein its rotation the crank portions 40 and 41 are provided with ,counterweights, 113 and 114 integral therewith. Also the auxiliary crank pin is outbalanced by means of counter weights 114, integral with the crank portions 116 and 117 respectively. 1 V

of difierent kinds.

between the axes 147 and 150. It is noted that axes 143 and 147 extend in the same plane. and are parallel to one another.v If

In the embodiment ofFIGal six cylinders have been grouped on each sideofthe wobble body 45. It is apparent'that each group ofsix cylinders together with the wobble bodywillbe self-contained and could operate without assistance of the cylinder group positioned on the opposite side of the wobble body. A self-contained internalv combustionengine may thus compriseany suitable number of cylinders with pistons and connecting rods operating on only one side of the wobblebody.

It, is further evident that, whenever there are cylinder groups on both sides of 'the .Wobble body, these may be Foninstance, the. cylinders on' the oneiside may belong to-anengine of the'four stroke type whereas the cylinders on the'opposite side may belong to an engine of the two stroke type. The one side may consist of an internal combustion engine and the opposite side he designed as a compressor or a pump driven via the wobble body from the engine. It the engine requires starting energy this can be supplied by operating the cylinders of the opposite side as a compressed air motor.

Provided the necessary balance is established the cylinders of the two sides may be arranged with a different number of cylinders.

What I claim is:

1. A wobble body mechanism for converting reciprocal piston movement to a rotary movement or vice versa, comprising a Wobble body rotatably mounted on a main crank pin formed on a rotary main shaft and inclined thereto, a plurality of pistons, and connecting rods interconnecting the pistons with the wobble body, characterized in that the wobble body is slidably anchored to an auxiliary crank pin formed on a rotary auxiliary shaft and inclined thereto, said auxiliary shaft being parallel to the main shaft and means being provided to rotate said auxiliary shaft at a speed substantially the same as that of the main shaft.

2. The mechanism of claim 1, in which said means are adapted to rotate the auxiliary shaft in a direction of rotation being the same as that of the main shaft.

3. The mechanism of claim 1, in which the angle of inclination of the auxiliary crank pin to the auxiliary shaft is considerably less than the angle of inclination of the main crank pin to the main shaft.

4. The mechanism of claim 3, in which the angle of inclination of the auxiliary crank pin is one half of the angle of inclination of the main crank pin.

5. The mechanism of claim 4, in which the centre of oscillations of the wobble body lies substantially in a plane being perpendicular to the main shaft and extending through the point of intersection between the inclined auxiliary crank pin and the axis of rotation thereof.

6. The mechanism of claim 5 in which the anchoring means of the wobble body comprises a ball joint being slidable along the auxiliary crank pin but barred from circumferential movement relatively to the wobble body.

'7. The mechanism of claim 6 in which said ball joint comprises members integral with the wobble body and provided with concave bearing surfaces at least partially enclosing the ball.

8. The mechanism of claim '7, in which said ball is provided with a through-going bore accommodating the auxiliary crank pin.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,371 5/51 Sparmann 74-60 1,716,020 6/29 Winckler 7460 XR 2,550,612 4/51 Sparmann 74-60 FOREIGN PATENTS 482,346 3/ 38 Great Britain.

BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WOBBLE BODY MECHANISM FOR CONVERTING RECIPROCAL PISTON MOVEMENT TO A ROTARY MOVEMENT OR VICE VERSA, COMPRISING A WOBBLE BODY ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON A MAIN CRANK PIN FORMED ON A ROTARY MAIN SHAFT AND INCLINED THERETO, A PLURALITY OF PISTONS, AND CONNECTING RODS INTERCONNECTING THE PISTONS WITH THE WOBBLE BODY, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT THE WOBBLE BODY IS SLIDABLY ANCHORED TO AN AUXILIARY CRANK PIN FORMED ON A ROTARY AUXILIARY SHAFT AND INCLINED THERETO, SAID AUXILIARY SHAFT BEING PARALLEL TO THE MAIN SHAFT AND MEANS BEING PROVIDED TO ROTATE SAID AUXILIARY SHAFT AT A SPEED SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME AS THAT OF THE MAIN SHAFT. 